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Photo by Kazuhiro Ibuki - Pool/Getty Images(ISTANBUL) -- Massive groups of anti-government demonstrators are rallying again on Sunday in Istanbul, the 10th consecutive day of protests against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan himself took to the top of a bus earlier on Sunday, telling his supporters that he had no intention of backing down in the face of the protests. Erdogan condemned his opponents as "looters," and according to BBC News, he urged his supporters to respond to the protests by turning out to vote in next year's local elections.

Kazuhiro Ibuki - Pool/Getty Images(ANKARA, Turkey) -- Turkey's leader sought to cool down the talk of war after his country retaliated against Syria following errant mortar fire that killed a mother and her children.

Following its shelling of Syrian targets across the border, the Turkish parliament authorized military action inside Syria, the most ominous sign yet the 19-month conflict could potentially destabilize the entire region.

However, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted on Thursday that the authorization was only meant as a deterrence and that Turkey doesn't want to get into an armed conflict with Syria.

According to Erdogan, "We want peace and security and nothing else. We could never be interested in something like starting a war."

Yet, he added ominously, "The Turkish Republic is a state capable of defending its citizens and borders. Nobody should try and test our determination on this subject."

In fact, the authorization allows Turkey to send its troops onto Syrian soil and conduct strikes against targets for one year.

The two countries are at odds over the Syrian conflict, with Erdogan having previously denounced President Bashar al-Assad for killing his own people to bring an end to an armed rebellion for democratic reform and the regime in Damascus blaming Turkey, the U.S. and other for fueling the crisis.

Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images(SEOUL, Republic of Korea) — President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met for almost two hours on Sunday, focusing mostly on the next steps for Turkey’s neighbor, Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been leading a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy forces in his country, leading to international condemnation.

The president said that he and Erdogan “worked on a common agenda in terms of how we can support both humanitarian efforts” as well as ways to convince Assad to step down, the president said. These would include encouraging Iran to stop its support for the Assad regime.

Both leaders agreed to further “non-lethal” aid for the Syrian opposition, a top Obama aide later said, such as communications support and medical aid, to be discussed further at the next “Friends of Syria” meeting, to be held in Turkey on April 1.

“It’s important to the opposition as they’re formulating their vision of an inclusive and democratic Syria to have the ability to communicate,” said Ben Rhodes, the White House deputy national security adviser for strategic communication.

Critics of the president’s policy have called for the U.S. and others to take their support a step further, by helping to arm the rebel forces, but the White House has balked, saying that such a step could prove destructive.

Erdogan had once believed his close friendship with Assad – their families had even gone on vacation together – would help influence the Syrian regime, but his diplomatic efforts ultimately proved fruitless.